One for sorrow
by GinaGold fan
Summary: 9. After the happy events from a couple of months ago, Gina and Daveys world is turned upside down when tragic events change their lives. Please r&r.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys. As promised I've got another fic for you. This fic is a continuation of the story ****'Happy ever after?'. **

**This story takes place a couple of months after Gina and Daveys wedding. I'm not going to give too much away about what happens in this fic, you'll just have to read it.**** Lol.**

Gina held Molly's hand as she walked her home from school one Thursday afternoon. Molly chatted happily all about her day. It wasn't far from Ginas' house to Mollys' school, so she quite often walked round to see her Granddaughter and to collect her.

Cara was in secondary school so she got out at a different time. Gina loved looking after her Grandchildren and appreciated every chance she got.

Davey was now getting used to having five Grandchildren and a six year old daughter to look after. Nicola was Daveys' youngest daughter from his previous marriage. The custody agreement Davey had with his ex-wife meant he got to spend every weekend with her. Gina enjoyed having Nicola round, but felt guilty because Molly felt so jealous of this new little girl in her Grannys' life. It was taking Molly a while to come round to the idea, but she was beginning to understand that Gina still loved her.

"Is Mummy home yet?" Molly asked as she looked up at Gina.

"Do you know what darlin'? I have no idea." Gina replied.

Gina opened her front door and let them both in out of the cool wintry breeze.

"Hi Mum." Alex shouted through to her Mum from the kitchen.

She had let herself in with her key.

"Oh hello, Molly was just asking if you were home." Gina said as she took off her layers of scarves, woolly gloves, and thick warm coat. She then helped Molly do the same. "I'm going to start on the tea soon if you want to stay."

"Sure I would love to. What you having?" Alex replied.

"Psgwettie blogonase." Molly said, much to the amusement of her Mum and Granny.

"It's spaghetti bolognaise" Alex corrected.

Molly looked up at her thoughtfully, contemplating whether to attempt to say it again only to change her mind and watch the tweenies instead.

Alex helped Gina in the kitchen, cutting and chopping the vegetables and then passing them to her.

"Where's Dad anyway?" Alex asked.

"He's gone to pick Nicola up. She's coming here for tea tonight because her Mum had to work late." Gina explained.

"Oh right, that will be nice. I haven't had much of a chance to see Nicola since I first met her." Alex replied.

At that moment the front door opened and Davey walked in with his daughter. Nicola ran straight into the kitchen and threw her arms round Gina and then Alex.

"Hello darlin'." Alex said as she hugged Nicola tightly and then tickled her ribs.

Nicola giggled and squirmed in response.

"Did you have a good day at school?" Gina asked once Nicola had stopped laughing.

Nicola nodded her head silently.

"Yeah you can tell she's had a very good day…" Davey shouted from the hall before walking through to them. "She's made you both a lovely card." He said showing them the small card held in his hand, and also the amount of glitter that was on him.

Gina and Alex both smirked at the sight of him as he tried to brush the shiny material off his clothes.

"Oi, not on my floor, go outside and do that." Gina reprimanded him with a smile.

Molly walked towards Nicola and asked if she would like to go outside to play. Nicola looked at Gina for permission.

"Both of you put on your coats because it's very cold outside and you go no further than the back garden." She said as she helped them both to put their coats on.

They ran off happily through the back door and ran towards the play house that was at the bottom of the garden.

Later on in the evening Alex and Gina sat in the relative warmth of the living room chatting. Each woman had one of the twins settled in their arms. Molly and Nicola were sat watching a DVD whilst Cara sat at the coffee table doing her homework. Baby Gina was laid in her play pen quite happily playing with one of her toys. Davey had gone to work at the pub for a few hours until closing time.

"So how's married life treating you then?" Alex asked mischievously.

Gina gave her a mock glare before answering.

"Married life is fine thank you very much." She replied.

"Well as long as you are happy together then I'm happy." Alex said.

"We are happy, very happy. Hopefully we'll stay that way and nothing will happen to spoil it." Gina replied happily. She glanced at her watch and noted the time. Right come on you two, it's time for bed." She said to Molly and Nicola.

"Is Nikki staying here tonight?" Molly asked.

Gina wasn't sure whether she was excited about the prospect or put out about it.

"Yes she is staying with us tonight because her Mummy has to work." She explained.

"Ok." Molly replied as she stood up.

Gina passed Alexander to his Mum, who then made herself comfortable on the settee with a twin in each arm.

"Are you all right there?" Gina asked, concerned that she was overloading Alex.

"Oh yes, just peachy." She replied, fragilely holding her babies.

Once all of the kids were in bed, Alex and Gina parted for bed themselves. Alex walked back next door to her own house. Smithy was on the late shift for a few nights, so she was left on her own for the night, with the twins keeping her company.

She settled baby Alexander and Esther in their cot, and then crawled under the warm duvet.

Early the next morning Alex stood in her kitchen and switched the kettle on. She yawned loudly as she poured the hot water into a mug.

Smithy put his key into the lock and turned it slowly. He had had a rough night in custody. He had to deal with several drunks; a rape suspect and five or six youths who had been brought in for criminal damage; all in the space of an hour at one point. Custody had been buzzing none stop for the entire shift.

"Only me." He shouted through from the hall way, not quite sure where Alex was.

"I'm in here." She shouted back.

He walked into the kitchen and Alex greeted him with a hug and a hot cup of tea.

"You're a mind reader, that's just what I need." He said as he sipped his drink.

"How was your night?" She asked.

"Hellish, but you'll find that out when you read the custody notes that are on your desk."

"Great." She said sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Well as much as I would love to sit here talking to you, I have to get to work myself." She said as she finished her drink and placed the cup in the sink.

She grabbed her coat from the coat hook in the hall and then kissed Smithy goodbye. She then left him to catch up with some much needed sleep.

As duty Sergeant she decided to go out on the streets with Diane for the day. She was fed up with looking at the same four walls all of the time. Her shift was reasonably uneventful until about three o'clock.

"_A__ll units from Sierra Oscar. Can any unit deal with an RTA at the junction on Tozer Street?"_ The CAD operators' voice came over the radio.

"We'll take that, we're the closest." Alex said as she turned the area car in the direction of the accident.

As the two officers arrived at the scene, they could see that the traffic was backed up for miles. There were two vehicles involved, a very badly crushed black Vauxhall and a red mondeo.

Diane and Alex put on their high visibility jackets and attempted to get the scene into some sort of order.

"Ok Diane if you could check on the victims for me and get their details, I'm going to radio for back up and check where the ambulance is." Alex said.

Diane radioed through the index plates of the cars and waited for a reply. After a few moments the voice came back over the radio,

"_The black Vauxhall Astra is registered to a Mrs Patricia Phillips and the…"_

Alex didn't hear the rest of the words when she recognised the name.

"That's my Dads' ex-wife." She said as she rushed over to the car.

As she did so the ambulance arrived. Alex ran up to the drivers' side of the car to find Trisha slumped over the wheel. She was unconscious and looked badly injured. Alex heard a noise in the back seat and glanced over to see Nicola. She didn't look injured but she was clearly upset and in shock.

"Hey Nikki it's ok sweetheart." Alex tried to sooth.

Once the ambulance and fire crews arrived at the scene, events happened quickly. The occupants of the red mondeo weren't badly injured. They were released from the wreckage and taken to hospital. It was a young couple in their late twenties. The paramedics said that they only really had cuts and bruises.

Nicola was released from her car and sat in an ambulance. She was dazed, confused and frightened. Alex sat next to her and tried to comfort her. The female paramedic was really good with her, but Nicola was still scared and huddled up as close to her sister as she could.

A third ambulance had been called for Trisha and was waiting on standby for when she was released. The fire crew cut her away from the wreckage and they placed her on a spinal bored. She was wheeled into the ambulance and driven straight to St Hughes.

"Diane, I'm going to go to the hospital with Nicola. You should be fine now that traffic are here to take control but give us a shout if you need me." Alex said.

Trisha was already in A and E when Alex arrived. Nicola was being attended to by a doctor so Alex decided to see how Trisha was doing. She was shocked to find them trying to resuscitate her, and it looked like they had been trying for some time. Finally one of the doctors looked at his colleagues and shook his head.

"Are we all agreed?" Alex heard him ask. "Time of death 17.42" He announced.

_Oh my God_. Was Alexs' first reaction. How was she going to tell her Dad and the rest of the family?


	2. Chapter 2

Alex paced up and down the hospital corridor outside Nicolas' room. The doctor was in with her giving her a quick check. Once the doctor had finished, Alex went back into the room.

"Hey Nikki, how are you?" She asked softly.

"She's doing alright Sergeant MacDonald. We will keep her in overnight just to keep an eye on her." The doctor explained.

"Thank you Doctor." Alex said as she walked over to Nicolas' bedside and sat next to her. "Now, I'm going to go and get Daddy and Gina because they'll want to see you won't they? I won't be long ok?" She explained.

Nicola nodded her head and closed her eyes to go to sleep. Alex slipped out of the room quietly and drove back to the station. She felt drained both emotionally and physically. She walked through the station towards Ginas' office and was relieved to find Gina sitting behind her desk.

_At least I don't have to go searching for her. _She thought.

She pushed open the door and Gina smiled as she looked up from her paperwork. She became concerned however when she saw Alexs' expression.

"What's happened?" She asked immediately.

"I need to find Dad because it concerns him as well. The RTA that we were called to a few hours ago, one of the victims was Dads ex Trisha. She was taking Nicola home from school. Nicola isn't badly hurt, just a few cuts and bruises. But they're keeping her in overnight to treat her for shock."

"And what about Trisha?" Gina interrupted.

Alexs' expression became even graver than before.

"Trisha died on arrival at St Hughes. Nicola doesn't know yet nor does the rest of her family. I thought I'd tell Dad first but I can't get hold of him. Do you know where he is?" Alex asked.

"I think he said he was going to the pub and they very rarely answer the phone there." Gina replied as she stood up and put her coat on.

"Right well we can drive past on our way to the hospital." Alex said as she led the way back out of the station.

At the Seven Bells Alex opened the heavy pub doors and walked in. She looked around for Davey but she couldn't see him. She decided to walk up to the bar and ask one of the bar tenders.

"Is Davey around?" She asked.

"Yeah he's just over here?" The guy said.

Alex followed him round and finally saw Davey stood talking to his other daughter Heather.

"Alex, Gina, what are you doing here? I thought you were still on shift." Davey asked cheerfully.

"We still are unfortunately. Is there anywhere more private we could go to talk?" Alex asked, keeping her tone professional. "Heather you should come as well, it concerns you too." She added.

Davey took them upstairs out of the way and Alex explained to Davey and Heather about the accident. At first there was an awkward silence across the room. Davey was sat next to Gina and held her hand tightly. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze in response. Heather looked shocked and didn't know what to say.

"I am so very sorry." Alex said finally.

"Can we see her? Nicola I mean." Heather said hoarsely.

"Yes of course you can. I'll take you all there now." Alex replied as she stood up.

Everyone was in a daze on the way to the hospital. No one spoke; the only sound that could be heard was Heather as she sobbed quietly in the back. Alex felt awful. She hated death visits at the best of times, but especially when she new the families concerned.

At the hospital Gina and Alex decided to give Heather and Davey some time alone with Nicola.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked her Mum.

"Me? Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Gina replied a little more defensively than she had intended.

"No reason, I was just checking. I wanted to make sure my Mum was ok since they've just lost theirs'." Alex snapped. She instantly regretted it though. She placed her arm round Ginas' shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." She said.

"It's ok. I'm sorry too. How are you coping?" Gina asked.

"I think I'm fine. I've dealt with death visits before, this one's just a little too close to home though." She explained.

Davey came out and gave Gina a weak smile.

"She's asking to see you." He said.

"Me?" Gina sounded surprised.

Davey stepped aside to let Gina into Nicolas' room and then followed. Heather came out seconds later.

"Erm… do you think it's possible for me to see my Mum?" She asked.

"Yeah sure it is. I'll go grab one of the nurses and arrange it." Alex said as she turned down the corridor to find someone.

After a few hours at the hospital, both Alex and Gina agreed that they should leave Davey and his family alone for a while.

His son David was in the city on business so he had been easy to contact. He had joined his father and sisters at the hospital almost as soon as he had heard. Ruth (Daveys' other daughter) was travelling from Wales as soon as she could. Needless to say the whole family was devastated.

"Davey, Alex and I are going to go home for a while; you know, to give you and your family some privacy. Will you give me a ring if you need me?" Gina said.

"Yeah sure I will. I'll be home as soon as I can." Davey said as he hugged Gina.

"There's no rush, just take as much time as you need." She replied.

Late that night Gina lay in bed trying to get some sleep. However, no matter how much she tossed and turned she couldn't get settled. She was still awake when Davey got home.

"Sorry did I wake you?" He asked as he walked into their bedroom.

"No, No not at all, can't wake someone who wasn't asleep." She replied sleepily.

She switched on the bedside light on the cabinet next to her bed. She sat up and looked at Davey solemnly.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. How are you coping, honestly?" She said.

Davey sighed as he got into the bed beside her.

"I don't know to be truthful. I can't believe any of this is happening." He explained.

Gina moved closer to him and gave him a comforting hug. She didn't quite know how to react, but understood that Davey and his family would need support.

"I've been thinking about our situation with Nicola." Davey continued. "How would you feel about her coming to live with us? I know it's your house and I'm sure that you don't want a screaming six year old runni…" But Gina cut him off before he could finish the rest of his sentence.

"I've been thinking about that too. She needs her Dad and you need her. I'm not going to come between you. It might be nice to have a child permanently in the house. You know since I had Alex I haven't been able to have kids of my own, this is probably as close as I'll get. Therefore she is always welcome in OUR home." She explained.

"Thank you Gina." Davey said as he kissed her before pulling back with a yawn.

"It has been a horrible, horrible day. Let's try and get some sleep before morning. I phoned the station earlier to say I was taking tomorrow off, as did Alex." Gina said.

"You're right we should try and get some rest." Davey agreed.

Gina switched the light off again before settling down and curling up close to Davey. She drifted in and out of a restless sleep, wondering and fearing what the future had in store for them.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day in the hospital, Nicola was well enough to be discharged. Everyone was happy about this fact but they were all still exhausted after the previous day's events.

Davey and Gina hadn't told Nicola yet that she was going to move in with them permanently. They had however explained about her Mums death.

At six years old she didn't quite understand the concept of life and death, but she did understand that it was a sad event. Gina and Davey had decided to explain to David, Heather and Ruth, about what they had decided would be best for Nicola. Alex had agreed to wait with her in the hospital room whilst the rest of her family talk their decision over.

"Will she still be allowed to come and stay with us once or twice a month?" Ruth asked as her family stood in the corridor outside the room.

"Yes of course she can. Just because she's moving in with us doesn't mean you will see her less." Davey said.

"And you are all welcome to call round at the house any time you want." Gina added.

Once they were all happy and in full agreement of their decision, it was time to take Nicola home. She would need plenty of bed rest for the next few days, which would give Davey and Gina some time to sort out the living arrangements properly.

Ruth and David would be staying with Heather, who lived round the corner from Gina and Daveys' house. They would be there until after their Mothers' funeral.

Gina drove them home taking all of the back streets to avoid most of the traffic. She finally pulled the car into her garage and Alex parked her car next door. Heather joined them in her car a few moments later with her brother and older sister. Gina had invited everyone back to hers' for some lunch.

Davey, Ruth, David and Heather sat in the living room with Nicola, whilst Alex and Gina made everyone something to drink and eat. They sat and discussed what they should do about Trishas' funeral. As much as they hated the idea, they knew that they would have to think about it at some point.

Ruth and Heather had agreed that they wanted to organise most of the funeral. David was still too shell shocked to really think about it.

For the rest of the afternoon they chatted about their happier memories about growing up and they even found themselves laughing. Gina and Alex enjoyed listening to what they had to say and both women appreciated how close their family had once been.

A few days later it was the day of the funeral. Gina joined Davey at the pub where the wake would be held afterwards.

"Hey, how are you bearing up?" She asked him as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Everything is fine, the food is out and we will stay closed until much later." He explained avoiding eye contact.

Gina sighed. "That's not what I asked you. You can tell me how you are feeling you know. You were married to her for twenty odd years and had four children with her. I don't mind if you want to show or voice your emotions you know." She explained sympathetically.

"I'm fine, honestly. The last few days seem a blur really." He said.

He pulled Gina close to him and hugged her tightly. Lifting her chin up, he kissed her.

"I do love you, you know." He whispered.

Gina replied with a look that told him that she felt the same way.

"Come on we'd better get going or we'll be late." She said as she made her way to the door.

Davey reluctantly followed her and they made their way to the funeral service. The service its self was taking place in a church close to the pub. A lot of people turned up to show their condolences and pay their last respects.

Alex and Gina joined the rest of the family at the front of the pews. The service lasted just over an hour. It was very moving and it even had tears pricking at Alexs' eyes. It reminded her of when her adoptive Dad died, which was only three years ago.

Round at the Seven Bells afterwards, Alex sat at a table in the corner with Ruth and Heather.

"How are you both coping?" She asked caringly.

"As well as can be expected I guess. I don't think we've stopped crying since she died." Ruth explained.

"The worst thing is when everyone comes up to you and says, 'I'm so sorry for your loss… or… it will get easier. It's been three years since my Dad died. I still miss him." Alex explained solemnly.

"I didn't know your other Dad had died." Heather replied.

"Umm, yeah we weren't very close when he died. In fact we had had a massive falling out the day before he passed away. I regret it now and realise it was stupid. I think that's kinda why I want to build a good relationship with Davey, get a second chance." Alex replied.

"It's nice to see Dad happy again with Gina and you. He hadn't been happy with Mum for years before they split. It came as a real shock to us all though when he told us we had an older sister." Heather said.

"Oi, watch the old. I'm only a few years older than you two." Alex joked.

All three women smiled and laughed.

As the mourners began to leave one by one, they marked the close of a very hard and traumatic day for the Phillips family.

The next few months would be hard for everyone. They would have to adapt to serious changes that affected all of them.

One month later, Gina was still enjoying having Nicola to look after. It made her realise just what she'd missed out on since she didn't have kids of her own. Molly and Nicola were now getting on much better and were enjoying each others company.

One night Davey was getting Nicola ready for bed. He was sat in the living room with her when Gina came in to sit down.

"What story do you want me to read to you tonight?" He asked his daughter.

She thought for a moment before answering.

"Winnie the pooh." She replied happily.

Davey looked over at Gina and rolled his eyes. She laughed at his response.

"How did I know you were going to say that? Come on then." He said to Nicola as he lifted her up over his shoulder.

Then, to both Gina and Daveys surprise, Nicola said something that neither of them ever expected her to say.

"I want Mummy to read it to me." She said pointing at Gina.

It wasn't exactly what she said that surprised them; she often liked Gina reading to her. It was the fact that she referred to Gina as 'Mummy'.

They looked at each other not knowing exactly what to say. Finally, Gina walked over to her husband and step-daughter and lifted Nicola from Davey. Nicola looked up sleepily at Gina and smiled. Gina smiled back and kissed her on the head.

"Shall we go read that book now?" She whispered as Nicola nodded in response.

Once Gina had finished reading the story, she tucked Nicola in and said her goodnights. She stood in the doorway and looked at Nicola as she slept. Davey joined her moments later. He put his arm around her shoulder and she moved closer to him.

"Well that was a surprise and a half." Gina whispered.

"Yeah it was. How does it make you feel though?" Davey whispered back.

"I don't know. I like it in a way, she obviously feels comfortable with me and us otherwise she wouldn't have said it…"

"But?" Davey interrupted.

"But… I feel guilty. I feel like I've taken her real Mums' place and I don't want to do that." She explained.

"Unfortunately for Nicola she isn't going to have many memories of Trisha, therefore you're going to be the only Mum she'll ever really know. Me and her brother and sisters will always make sure she knows what her Mum was like; but I think you should continue being a good Mum to her. You've taken on a lot and you've made everything a lot easier on all of us. She's really taken to you, and cares a lot about you. As do I." Davey explained before passionately kissing her.

She pulled away and looked up at him with a smile.

"You'll have me going soft yet Davey Phillips." She said as she playfully tapped his arm. "Come on, I think Nikki has the right idea. I'm going to bed now myself." She added, before closing the door to Nicolas room, and then walking next door into her own room. Davey followed her feeling exhausted himself.

The following afternoon everyone joined Heather and her fiancé Stephen at the pub. They had some exciting news that they wanted to share. Ruth and David had even joined them in person. In fact since their mothers' death, they had been travelling down quite a lot.

"Ok everyone, we wanted to wait until you were all together before we told anyone. We found out yesterday morning that I'm pregnant." Heather said excitedly.

On hearing her news Ruth jumped up and hugged her younger sister.

"That's great. Do you know when you're due?" She asked equally as excited as Heather.

"It's due after the wedding next year." She replied as everyone hugged and congratulated her.

"Well Stephen I think this calls for a drink." Davey said as he handed his future son-in-law a pint.

Once everyone was sat again with a drink in their hand, they chatted quietly to each other. The women were in one corner sharing baby stories and the men were in the other, discussing sport.

After the devastating events of the previous couple of months, everyone finally had something to look forward to.

**Well that's another story over. I know this one is shorter than my usual fics but I've got another one in the pipeline. Hopefully that one should be up soon. Thank you to Little people and Pippa for reviewing. You are a great help**** and I look forward to reading more of your reviews. Thanks for now. X**


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